BMW took a sensational victory at this year’s prestigious International Engine of the Year Awards, scooping the International Engine of the Year for its 1.5-litre three-cylinder electric-petrol hybrid powertrain found in the revolutionary BMW i8.

A significant piece of ocean research infrastructure was brought to fruition with the completion of the Galway Bay underwater ocean observatory over the weekend. Through the combined effort of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI), the Marine Institute and Commissioners of Irish Lights the final piece of equipment has been deployed to give researchers and ocean energy developers unique insight into the Galway bay marine environment. The observatory is now entering into a commissioning period and is expected to be operational in the coming months.

The Galway Community Pride Festival will take place this weekend and the event includes a show which takes place tomorrow (Friday) in the Bank of Ireland Theatre beside the College Bar at NUI Galway. Gender Fabulosity is being organised by Galway Pride member Ivan Fahy and is described as a ‘gender liberating fashion show’ which is about people enjoying themselves and expressing themselves in the way they want to, and feel most comfortable.

“Catholic cathedrals in Ireland are monuments to our imitative instincts and conservative distrust of artistic originality. There are examples of new church architecture but in general, Church authorities remained faithful to the Middle Ages and refused to abandon medieval architecture. It is therefore understandable that in 1949 when the building of Galway Cathedral was commissioned, it should have been conceived in a hybrid Romanesque style. In 1959, the foundation stone was laid and on August 15, 1965, the Cathedral of Our Lady Assumed into Heaven and St Nicholas was dedicated by Cardinal Cushing. In December that year the Vatican Council solemnly ended its revolutionary document The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy which rendered the shape, style, arrangement, and setting of such buildings obsolete and anachronistic. This building was almost an object lesson in insularity. It is clear from the late Bishop of Galway’s instructions that for him art can be no more than decoration, an illustration of scripture or a clearly formulated theology. Art is never an original source, a spiritual revelation, a doing of theology.”

It has been a good season so far for Tony Ward's Galway senior camogie players and they hope to continue their winning ways when they face Wexford in the All-Ireland semi-final this Saturday in Nowlan Park (3.30pm).